Two indicted for drug growing operation near Baylor's campus

Waco, Tx — A McLennan County Grand Jury has indicted two former Baylor students in connection to a drug bust conducted by McLennan County Sheriff's deputies in late March.

Quinton James Porter, 21, who is said to be a former Baylor student, posted $25,000 bond back in April. Larry Lee Maldonado, 21, was a current Baylor student at the time of the drug bust. Maldonado posted a $22,000 bond in April as well for both an engaging in organized criminal activity charge and a DWI charge.

Marijuana, mushrooms, which are a Hallucinogen, Hydrocodone, a generic form of Ritalin, Promethazine, which is a combination of cough syrup and codine, Ecstasy, a nine millimeter machine pistol with a 30 round magazine, a Smith and Wesson 40 caliber semi-automatic gun, a Hookah machine, needles used to grow spores to germinate and grow mushrooms, and nine thousand dollars cash were among the items seized as evidence during the March 28 bust.

“When you have guns in the perpetuation of a serious crime, a narcotics crime, there is a separate offense for that,” said McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara.

Officers with the Organized Crime Unit of the sheriff’s department were serving a routine warrant on Maldonado's DWI charge at the apartment home around 1 a.m. The strong odor of pot circulating called for further investigation. That investigation led to the arrests of two Maldonado and Porter.

“Apparently, this is what you would consider a mid level trafficker, mid level dealer,” said McNamara on the initial observation of the evidence. Officials say this is one of the first times they’ve actually seen a large scale mushroom manufacturing system being used.

Authorities searched the pair's apartment near Baylor's campus, located in the 1400 block of South 12th Street. Maldonado was originally wanted on a misdemeanor DWI charge.

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